The overarching goal of this application is to develop and maintain a programmatic line of research in the area of alcohol use and dating violence that will serve as the basis for a career as an independent scientist in clinical psychology. Rates of dating violence are high especially when considering verbal aggression;a concerning statistic given that verbal aggression may be a precursor to the use of physical aggression. This escalation to physical aggression may be more likely, and may occur more rapidly during a conflict when alcohol has been consumed. The proposed research is the first to experimentally examine this process in both dating men and women. Specifically, the purpose of Study 1 is to develop and validate an experimental paradigm to examine the reported likelihood of using aggression and the potential escalation from verbal to physical aggression in response to an anger-arousing audio-taped dating conflict. Study 2 will combine the methodology established in Study 1 with a standardized alcohol administration protocol in a sample of heterosexual dating individuals 21-30 years old. Participants will complete self-report questionnaires, an implicit measure of emotion regulation, and then will be randomly assigned to an alcohol, placebo, or no alcohol condition. After the beverage manipulation, participants will be presented with the audio-taped stimuli, asked to continuously assess their subjective anger arousal, and provide the likelihood they would engage in negotiation tactics, as well as verbal and physical aggression every 30 seconds throughout the duration of the scenario. Study 2 is designed to (a) evaluate the effects of alcohol intoxication and alcohol expectancies on aggressive responses, (b) determine the role of emotion regulation in the likelihood to use verbal and physical aggression, and (c) examine the associations among alcohol use, emotion regulation, and other factors previously shown to relate to dating violence (e.g., gender, personality), on the likelihood to use verbal and physical aggression. The use of individual growth curve modeling will enable an examination of each individual's change over time as well as the effects of beverage conditions and other predictors on change. Dating violence is a growing public health concern, with men and women perpetrating aggression in relationships at high rates. Partner violence has been associated with many deleterious consequences including both physical and mental health concerns. Examinations of the relations proposed in the current investigation will enable a better mechanistic understanding of the perpetration of dating violence;thus leading to the development of more effective prevention and intervention programs.